Synopsis for "Strange Visitor"

There were voices, thundering, lightning and an earthquake...and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. There fell a great star from heaven, burning as if it were a lamp...and I beheld, and heard an Angel, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, WOE to the inhabiters of the earth.

The story begins with Wesley Dodds speaking with his pastor, Norman McCay, as he is reading from the book of Revelation in the Bible. Dodds has begun seeing visions related to that book and is trying to tell Norman about them. However, he dies before he can explain them.

While walking sometime after the funeral, Norman reflects on Dodds' life. Doods had once been the Sandman. During his later life, Dodds had been worried about the world's current superheroes, who lack the morals of their predecessors. As Norman reflects on this, a fight between some of the modern heroes fight and Norman hopes that mankind can out last these heroes.

These thoughts leaked into Norman's next sermon subconsciously. After the sermon, Spectre appear to Norman. Spectre was supposed to use Dodds for his host as he witnessed the events of the coming Armageddon, but has to use Norman because he is now having the visions.

They are first transported to a farm in Kansas (which turns out to be a holographic environment created in the Fortress of Solitude) where an aged Superman lives. Wonder Woman comes and tries to convince Superman that he needs to come out of retirement to help the world. Inside the house, they watch footage of a battle between a team of new heroes lead by Magog battling Parasite. Parasite pulled apart Captain Atom, causing a nuclear explosion that completely destroyed Kansas.

The Spectre takes them to Metropolis, where they see some of the modern heroes having a shoot out on a suspension bridge and a tram full of innocents. The tram's cable was cut, but Superman was able to save it in time. Everyone was thrilled to see Superman save the day once more, but Norman was able to see this was just the beginning of the Armageddon.

Notes

In panel 1, page 7, the long-haired Korean with the cigarette dangling from his mouth is Sung Koo, the former proprietor of Halley's Comics, a Chicago comic-book store. Chicago happens to be where Alex Ross lived.

At Norman's church congregation, Norman is preaching from the Book of Revelation (8:7, 9:2, 14:7) which parallels to the Kansas disaster. His audience is mostly composed of fewer and older attendees, which implied the loss of faith in superheroes among the young.

The news broadcasts that Superman watches are translated as follows: "The world was shocked by horrible acts" (Anglicized Spanish), "Tragedy in America" (Korean), "paralyzed by the news of Magog" (Portuguese), "fierce brutality of Magog" (Italian), "American by the name of Magog" (French), and "We have learned that Magog has endangered us" (German).

The rogue metahumans Manotaur and Trix fought each other earlier in the story, and much later are seen fighting on the same side, demonstrating that superhumans seem to be fighting just for the sake of fighting, with no regard to who gets hurt.

Trivia

The Japanese graffiti that Norman walks by is the kanji title of the anime series Tenchi Muyō!. Also barely readable is the "Who Watches The Watchmen?" graffiti which is the quote of the Roman poet Juvenal that was thematically central in Alan Moore's Watchmen.

In the window of the shop that Norman walks by displays: Alternate Egos, by John Law, who is the Golden Age hero The Tarantula created by Will Eisner; and the book Under the Hood by Hollis Mason from Watchmen; and an signed World Series '02 baseball, which indicate that the setting of Kingdom Come takes place after 2002.

Links and References

This comic issue, event, or limited series takes place in its own separate continuity as an Elseworlds story; although it may exist within a larger Elseworlds continuity as part of its series. This includes both titles with the Elseworlds Logo, and titles retroactively declared as Elseworlds Stories. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Elseworlds category.